Darcy laughed. “Well, when you put it that way.”
“Speaking of which, what are we going to do about the fact that you’ve ignored me all weekend when we could have been in bed together, satisfying each other’s very lusty appetites?” he said and bent down to nibble her neck and earlobe.
Darcy backed up out of his reach but he just took a step forward, the look in his eyes revealed his intentions and they weren’t professional in nature. “Michael, don’t,” she laughed. “Anyone could walk in right now.”
His husky laugh followed her as she stepped around the coffee table. “Well, here’s how I see it. I’m going to try and get the woman who just won a multi million dollar contract to sleep with me. What do you think the odds are on that happening?” he said and reached out to grab her around the waist. But she jumped back out of his reach at the last moment.
“Pretty slim,” she laughed, but her whole body was tingling with anticipation.
“You think so?” he asked, backing her up against a chair and reaching for her again.
But she twisted at the last moment and escaped him. “Michael, you can’t do this here,” she laughed, despite her seriousness.
“Oh, but I can,” he said, his eyes promising the passion she wanted so much. “And you ignored me all weekend when you should have been in my bed, making love to me and teaching me about you.”
“That sounds lovely, but I don’t think this is the time to start that,” she said, her voice a whisper as she listened to his words, wanting them to be reality as well.
“Why not? You’ve worked hard, I’m the boss, I can demand that you and your team take a few days off to celebrate,” he shrugged.
“That wouldn’t be right.”
“I decide what’s right,” he said and reached out to grab her again, this time his arm snaked around her waist and lifted her up against his body. “And you are definitely right, Darcy,” he said a moment before his mouth covered hers.
Darcy didn’t want to fight the urge any longer. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled her body as close to his as she could get, reveling in the feel of his strong length against her own, softer body.
But she jumped back when she heard another deep voice. “Um, Michael, I hate to interrupt, but we really need to get Darcy down to sign the contracts,” Sal said, the laughter evident in his voice.
Darcy’s face instantly bloomed with color and she wriggled down to the floor, straightening her clothes as she hid behind Michael’s tall form. “Bad timing, big brother,” Michael said, sighing but he turned around to face him. “What did you need?”
“Well, besides a wedding invitation, we need to sign the contracts. The agency brought them over.”
“If you’ll leave us alone for another five minutes, you’ll get both,” Michael said.
Sal winked, “Good luck.”
Darcy was still looking down at the floor when the door closed behind Sal.
“Am I going to need it?” Michael asked softly.
“What do you mean?”
He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. “Well, my big brother doesn’t condone office romances. He thinks they are bad for business. I tend to agree with him.”
Darcy sucked in her breath, not understanding what Michael was trying to say. “Do you think we should stop seeing each other.”
“Just the opposite,” he chuckled. “I think we should see more of each other.”
Darcy turned around in his arms. “I’m not sure I understand.”
He lifted her up so she was sitting on the desk behind her. “Well,” he started, and slid one hand up her stocking clad leg, ignoring her hand that tried to stop him since he could see the passion flare up in her eyes as they watched him, “I don’t think he would mind if I played a little hanky panky in my office with my fiancé.”
Darcy gasped and slapped his hand away, pushing at his chest. “You never mentioned a fiancé, Michael Attracelli. I never would have had anything to do with you if I’d known you were engaged.”
Michael’s deep laughter caught her off guard. “I don’t think this is anything to laugh about. Please excuse me, I really need to get out of here.”
By that time, he was laughing so hard, he almost didn’t catch her hand when she pushed past him. But the tears in her eyes that were about to spill onto her cheeks stopped his laughter. “Darcy, are you so oblivious to the way I feel about you? I can assure you, I know that you are in love with me. Why can’t you see the same thing about me?”
Darcy blinked, letting his words form in her mind. “You know I’m in love with you?”
“Yes. Ever since I kidnapped you to Grand Caymen.”
Pushing her chin up, she said defensively, “Don’t worry. I won’t bother you with my feelings. I really need to go now.”
He let her take three more steps before his next words stopped her. “I love you too.”
She turned around to face him, not sure she’d heard him correctly. “What did you say?”
“I said, I love you.”
He just stood there in the middle of his office and waited. It took her a long time before she let the truth sink in. But once it did, her face cleared up and a smile broke out of her misery. “I love you, Michael,” and she threw herself into his arms.
“Thank goodness you’ve finally realized it,” he said and caught her tightly to him, holding her close. “So you’ll marry me? It’s the only way Sal will let us kiss whenever we want to in the office,” he joked.
Darcy pulled back and looked at his handsome face. “Well, if that’s the only way, I guess I’ll have to, huh?”
Michael leaned down and gently kissed her smiling lips. “The only way, I guarantee it.”
Epilogue
Darcy yawned as she entered the kitchen. It was Sunday morning and everyone was gathering at their house for lunch after church instead of Sal’s house for a change. Sal’s wife, Laci, was in the hospital giving birth to her second child. Both she and Sal had gone to the hospital late that night and no one had received any news yet so obviously the baby had not yet been born.
Laci picked up the paper that was sitting on the table and yawned again, thinking she might need to rest before everyone came over for lunch. She’d been working hard on another proposal and was unusually wiped out this time.